At Children’s Place Association, we work tirelessly to help secure a bright future for youth and families. Despite their external environment, broken systems, and injustices, we believe they deserve to rejoice in the hope of tomorrow. 

  

Yesterday, 19 children and 2 adults did not get to go home. They will not get to end the school year with gleeful hugs as they usher in summer. Instead, their devastated families will receive hugs at their funeral services. They will not wait in happy anticipation to see if they got the teacher they were hoping for as the next school year begins. Instead, their devastated families will pass out programs with their beautiful faces imprinted on the cover, In Memory. 

  

Eleven days ago, 10 Black shoppers did not get to go home. They did not bring back their birthday cakes and gallons of milk. Instead, their devastated families are now without the matriarchs and patriarchs that often serve as their backbone. They will not have the wisdom and recipes, the anecdotes, and the culture that is often preserved by such. Instead, their devastated families have passed out programs that try to contain their stories within a few feeble pages, In Memory.  

  

This year alone, over 200 Chicagoans have been killed by guns. On my commute, I pass too many makeshift shrines of balloons and teddy bears, In Memory. 

 

Despite politics, party lines or divided allegiance, who are we if we refuse to act with swift resolve? Who are we if parents and families continue to bury their family’s potential and prestige? Who are we if we fight wars abroad yet neglect those at home? Who are we if political posturing weighs heavier than common sense? Who are we if we continue to lose more people to mass shootings than any other country? Who are we if we become numb to it all and allow In Memory to become the words that define a generation?  

  

Like many parents, I struggled with sending my children to school today. I struggle with the balance of explaining these tragedies and helping them feel safe. I do not claim to have the answers, but I know for certain that doing nothing is not the solution.  

  

Children’s Place Association stands in support of the actions that lead to exponentially less premature In Memory, and many more innocent summers, family dinners, birthdays, graduations, and joy. This is the only way that we can all rejoice in the hope of tomorrow.   

 

My best,  

  

Cinaiya Stubbs 

President & CEO